Index Fund Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Index Fund Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 343.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares during the period. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Progressive were worth $967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.10, for a total value of $325,624.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,356,934.80. This represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Susan Patricia Griffith sold 30,659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.06, for a total transaction of $7,543,953.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,286 shares in the company, valued at $117,194,933.16. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 130,045 shares of company stock worth $31,997,390. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Progressive from $265.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $267.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Progressive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.63.

Progressive Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:PGR opened at $240.18 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $140.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.32. The Progressive Corporation has a twelve month low of $228.54 and a twelve month high of $292.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $245.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.54.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $20.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.39 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 35.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 2nd. Progressive’s dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

About Progressive

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.